blanket promise of cuddles
by NewandOld
Summary: after experiencing one of the first comforts of life - the softest blanket in the universe! - keith begins to learn the true meaning of trust and affectionate relationships.


"I totally found the best and coolest thing," Lance crowed, lifting a ball-like thing that gave a lightshow in his hands like a trophy.

"Not to say that we're competing, but if we did, I honestly deserve it for finding a honey substitiute that isn't poisonous to humans, so I don't care what you say, I won."

"Hunk, everyone is gonna say my find of the communications booster to potentially get Earth's internet here in outer space, wins."

Shiro chuckled, shaking his head lightly at their antics. He glanced at Keith, knowing that if Keith was quiet too long, there was something afoot.

Thankfully for his greying hairs, Keith seemed to be looking occupied with something in his hands, with no sort of visible troublemaking-ness.

"What have you got there?" Shiro asked, clearing his throat to pull Keith out of his thoughts. "Found anything good?"

"Oh...well," Keith muttered sheepishly, scratching behind his head. "I just got... a kerchief."

"A kerchief?" Shiro asked with a raised eyebrow. "Like the things you wear around your neck?"

"Yeah. I lost mine a while ago, and..." Keith fingered the kerchief in his hands. "I really like the material."

Shiro peered at the bright red cloth, and reached out a hand, stopping before the cloth asking for tacit permission. Keith nodded, and Shiro felt the cloth between his fingers.

"Huh," Shiro said with a frown. The leather-like appearance was very soft and silky, almost like some animal pelt with miniscule hairs that was softer than velvet. It didn't even matter which way his fingers brushed through the material -- the softness was uniform all the way around.

Shiro pushed the temptation of brushing his cheek against the fabric, letting it go into Keith's figety hands.

"That is amazingly soft. Did you catch what the material was called?"

Keith shrugged, muttering about a 'rammobush' or something.

Shiro shrugged back, making a note to himself to check with Coran on whether they could buy some more to make blankets.

When presented with all their findings, Coran (with some Altean toy that stayed popular for ten thousand years) and Allura (with sparkly bracelets and a gem-adorned whip handle) were pleased to find Keith's find in particular.

"My boy!" Coran praised, still examining the cloth under a magnifying glass he brought out from somewhere unknown. "You've found Ramoubusht! The finest material in the universe!"

"Ramoubusht! Really?" Allura exclaimed, visibly pleased. "Coran! We must get as much of the material as possible!"

"I agree, Princess! Now, number four, where did you find the stall?"

With the background noise of Lance grumbling under his breath about stupid mullets always one upping him, the humans and Alteans made their way around the marketplace, Coran singing praises about the wonderful 'Ramoubusht'.

"It was first found by an ancient Altean explorer, then spread around the universe by several well known traders of the time -- one of my great great grandmothers, you know! -- and as soon as the Galra were introduced to it, they fell in love and guarded their stores jealously. The Battle of Clanmurel Hill was one of the bloodiest where the Galra and the Amorans fought for the right to exclusively trade from a Ramoubusht Port!"

"What exactly is it made of?" Shiro asked curiously.

"Oh, the material is almost any sort of plant matter, but it's the secret process of creating the material that makes Ramoubusht so incredible --"

"We're here."

At Keith's call, the group slowed to a stop at a store almost hidden by the flowing pieces of cloth hanging from its entrance.

"Ah, back for more already?" A deep raspy voice said through the curtain of multicolored cloths. "I told you you'd be back for more."

A wrinkled hand reached out from the curtain of cloths and drew it back to reveal a short and pink haired humanoid alien, their hunched back and cane giving them a feeling of age.

Keith shrugged, then waved at Coran. "He wanted some of the rammobush."

"Ramoubusht, Keith, Ramoubusht!" Allura hissed, elbowing him gently.

"Yeah, that." Keith agreed.

Coran stepped forward towards the store and gave a small bow to the alien owner.

"Loveliest of Ladies!" Coran declared, curling his mustache. "Your wares are extraordinary! The sample number four has in his possession is the finest quality I've ever seen in ten thousand years!"

The alien cackled. "You know your flattery well! Come in, come in, let's talk business inside."

Inside the shop were stacks and stacks of cloth bolts, all lined up in some complicated system. There were colors as garish as fluroescent green to multiple bolts of the same color that seemed to have no difference whatsoever, but they all seemed to make some sense to the Alteans, who oohed and ahhed at the store interior.

The owner bustled around and pulled out little stools hidden behind bolts of clothing, handing one for everyone. They all sat, chatting quietly about the store and its awe inducing number of selections.

As they settled down, the owner pulled out a huge book from a shelf, the weight of the book slamming down the work table with a loud bang.

"Now," she said, opening the book. "What kind of Ramoubusht would you like to see?"

Coran immediately scooted closer to the book, eyes widening at the array of cloth pieces catalogued inside.

"Well," Coran began, looking around the group of paladins. "I'd like to get a full set for everyone, starting with the Princess."

"A full set! Oh Coran, really?" Allura gasped, hands clasped together in delight.

"As defenders of the universe, a restful sleep is a must!" Coran gestured the Princess towards the owner. "Anytime when you're ready, ma'am."

The owner sat stunned, eyes wide as it flickered between all the humans and Alteans. "Oh, I see," she murmured, in a much softer rasp. "I usually talk price first, but... well, for you folk, let's find each of you a set, shall we?"

The owner then stepped up to Allura and began to ask her to feel the various textures of some cloth pieces in the book, followed by some of the freely hanging cloths. By some method that the humans could not understand, the owner hummed and asked, "Pink or Aqua?"

Allura thought for a second, then chose aqua.

"Good choice." The owner smiled, then toddered to the back of the store to bring out a huge bundle of pale aqua cloth, handing it over to Allura.

"Thank you!" Allura squealed (yes you read that right, squealed), rubbing her face into the cloth.

"Pidge, you're up." Coran said with a wink.

As Pidge went through the entire process, chattering to the owner with her nonstop questions about the chemical makeup of the Ramoubusht, the others crowded around Allura and her new... blanket.

"So... what exactly are you going to do with it?" Hunk asked, poking a corner or the cloth.

"Oh, anything you'd like, really. But Ramoubrusht is best known to give you great sleep. With a good Ramoubusht matcher, you would get the most amount of physical comfort!"

"So... basically a super blanket? Personalized to your body?"

"That's right!" Allura said with a happy sigh. "I haven't had a full set since I was a child!"

"Shiro, you're up!" Coran interrupted, carefully corralling Pidge into a stool. She looked blissed out as she nearly buried herself in her new pile of dark spring green blankets, glasses askew and hair more of a mess than a few minutes ago.

Lance poked her gently, getting alarmed at her non-reaction. "What's wrong with her?"

Pidge mumbled something, and Hunk leaned in to listen.

"She said... beibei?" Hunk said confusedly. "I think she also said 'soft'."

Keith turned to Coran, eyebrows furrowed. "Is that normal?"

"Ah, well, a slightly more extreme reaction to being exposed to Ramoubusht for the first time, I suppose." At Keith's frown, Coran hurriedly reassured him. "Don't worry, it's just a very soft material, number four. Allergic reactions are taken account of by our lovely matcher, and there are no health concerns, other than the side effect of oversleeping a little."

"Next!" The lady in question called out, ushering Shiro away from her work area.

"That'd be you, Lance."

"Aww, yeah!" Lance cheered. "Mine's gonna be the bestest fluffiest blanket ever!"

Shiro shuffled past Lance into his seat, his arms tightly wound around his bundle of blankets. His shoulders were significantly loose than before, and his eyes were at a half mast of satisfaction, chin resting on top of his dark grey blanket bundle.

Hunk raised an eyebrow and shared a look with Keith.

"That must be some magical blanket," he whispered to Keith, trying not to disturb their stressed leader from his destressing.

"Yeah," Keith nodded, still fingering his kerchief.

The kerchief was nice, and he couldn't stop stroking it, but he couldn't imagine that a blanket alone would do so much to relax people.

"Hunk? You're up."

Lance skipped back to his seat, arms full of his navy-blueish bundle. The color seemed to shift as Lance stroked, ranging from a sky blue to a deep almost blackish blue. Lance kept stroking it in all directions, face buried in the thick of the blanket muffling his happy groans.

Keith looked around his team, all in various states of bliss. Shiro had already wrapped himself up in a blanket burrito, only his hairfloof visible near the top. Coran looked amused at them all, curling his mustache jovially.

As Keith poked at all his teammates, a moan came from behind him.

"Keeeeeeeeiiiiiithhhhhh," Keith turned quickly to see Hunk holding his own bundle of muted yellow. "I'm a believer now, ohmygoooooooood... sooooooo soooooooofffffft..."

Keith watched as Hunk sank into his seat and cuddled his bundle.

"Last but not least, Keith." Coran said as he ushered him to the matcher.

Keith glanced back at his team, then at Coran. "But what about you?"

"Oh, I've already got one." Coran dismissed with a smile on his face.

"But," Keith said, dragging his feet. "You said these were the best you've seen in ten thousand years. It doesn't make sense for you to not get any when we all did."

"The boy is right," the matcher agreed with a smile. "You deserve one too. I'll make your set a special bonus for your purchase here today."

Coran paused, with a heartfelt thankful expression on his face. "Well, I won't refuse. Your quality is superb."

Keith went through all the same steps as the others had before, and was presented with a dark maroon bundle. At the first touch, Keith was surprised by how soft it was. By this point, the word 'soft' had been used so many times by his teammates that he honestly thought he knew what to expect, but... it was _so soft_. Keith dug his hand deeper into the bundle, and whimpered at the slinky smooth softness. It was slightly different from the material of the kerchief, but at that moment, Keith didn't care about the differences; just that there was a feeling so heavenly like never before.

He dreamily drifted to a seat at Coran's direction to his seat, and basked in the sensations.

Keith recalled there being some conversation between Coran and the matcher about the price and asking her to watch over them as he brought the pod over, something about them toddling like yelmors through the marketplace? but he didn't remember much.

He drifted in the feeling of the material in his arms, murmuring wonder and bliss into the material.

All too soon he was gently prodded into the seat in the pod along with the others, turning to wave a dazed goodbye at the matcher standing in front of her store of flowy cloths.

The rest of the evening was spent in the main lounge of the Castle, everyone napping together in each of their Ramoubusht blankets -- even Coran.


End file.
